The warnings came suddenly, a wave of bells sweeping down Higuera Street and toward the public address announcer, who sat waiting at the start/finish line Sunday.

The bells meant make way, clear the streets, the racers were coming.

And then they came, a flash of colors turning the corner.

“The first to finish Lap 1 wins a box of strawberries!” shouted the PA announcer.

Swoosh! The heads lowered - the dash for fruit was on.

The next lap, it was another free-for-all, for another box of strawberries. Then it was $75. Another $75.

The prizes got better and better each time a racer tore down the final 400-meter stretch and won an intermediate lap at the 2008 San Luis Obispo Downtown Criterium Classic.

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But come more than 50 laps, the ultimate prize, on the day's ultimate race, went to Daniel Holloway.

Holloway's strategic turn around Osos and Higuera Streets put him in prime position to take first place, capping a full day of action at the revived event held in downtown San Luis Obispo. Racers from across the Western United States, many from Central Coast locations, participated.

This wasn't the Amgen Tour of California. Fans didn't line the streets to spot a second's-worth of action. No, the criterium is much different than the traditional road race. Every 1 minute, 20 seconds fans got a glimpse of riders, charting the same loop around Higuera, Broad, Monterey and Osos before returning to Higuera - at times eclipsing 35 miles per hour.

A criterium is a bike race held on a short course, in Sunday's case the events run against a time limit. The day kicked off with the Men's Elite 5/Public Race at 7:30 a.m. and eventually worked its way toward the Elite 1/2 Pro race at 3:15 p.m. There was a race for all levels and ages.

In all, $6,000-worth of prizes were issued out, and $1,999 was up for grabs in the top race (the ultimate prime, as these prizes are known during such criterium races).

And Holloway showed everyone he's still the best around. He is, after all, the national champ.

“I won the (USA Cycling Men's) Elite Criterium Nationals and two stages of the Tour of Pennsylvania, and this keeps the morale going,” Holloway said.

Holloway talked about the final turn.

“It's long at the end,” he said. “It's 400 meters from the corner and I just tried to be as patient as I could.”

Next up, Holloway plans to race in the Tour of Utah and Tour of Missouri, but he's got a much more important item looming in the future. In August, he will sign a contract to ride for Team Garmin-Chipotle - a U.S.-based UCI Professional Continental road team.

Even with big plans, “I'd love to come back here,” Holloway said, eluding to SLO and his first race in town. “The park is really nice.”

Following the second turn, racers went “off-road”, entering the Mission Plaza, racing through the park and in front of the historic Mission San Luis Obipso de Tolosa. Fans along the rails experienced a reoccurring breeze whip by, racers coming within inches of fans hugging the corner rails.

Holloway - who was racing for UMG-FELT - held off Ricardo Escuela, who was nearly paced to victory by two other UCI CT: Successful Living Pro Cycling teammates.

Mixed in with the more serious races was the “Deux Run Run - Dash for Cash” event - where costumed riders and runners raised money for the Special Olympics.

In the women's top race (Women Pro 1-3), Beatriz Rodriguez of Southern California Velo (based in Chino) won after jockeying for fourth place coming around the final corner.

“I knew it would come down to the final spacing,” she said.

She just beat out Bonnie Bourque. In the other women's races, Natasha Hernday of Team Amgen won the Category 3 race, Tamara Presser won Category 4.

In the Masters 35-plus 1-3 race, Samuel Ames of Simply Fit/Action Sports led with three laps to go and held on for the win, holding off Team Easton/SugarCRM.

“I stayed in position - I was where I needed to be, because it's long at the very last corner,” he said.

Ames raced in San Luis Obispo 15 years ago, during the race's first stint in town. The event has been a part of SLO since the 1970s, only to temporarily shut down shop in 2001 before last year's revival.

In other results, Griffin Easter won the Men's Category 5 race, Brian Monroe the Category 4 race, Justin Osborne the 30-plus 4-5 race, Joshua Courtney the Category 3 race, Craig Miller the Masters 45-plus and John Elgert the Masters 55-plus.